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Chapter 413 - Chapter 415: The Final Stages! Liverpool Erupt!

"Make the change."

"If Bayern can't control Rodri, they can't control Leo Lin either. They have to make a substitution. Their tactics aren't working anymore!"

Scholes had barely finished speaking when Kingsley Coman was already standing on the touchline, and Ribéry began walking off.

"Kovač makes the change. The younger left winger Kingsley Coman comes on for the veteran Ribéry."

"Now both of Bayern's wingers are young players. Coman and Gnabry will make Bayern even quicker out wide!"

"And there's a second change. Midfielder Renato Sanches comes on for Thiago!"

Bayern brought on two young players, and Liverpool made a substitution of their own.

"Liverpool are sending on Wijnaldum. Is Mané coming off?"

Scholes had thought it would be a like-for-like change, but when Mané came off, even the Liverpool fans were confused. Mané had played well in this final.

As he left the pitch, Mané was still talking to Krawietz, as if he did not understand why he was being substituted.

After coming on, Wijnaldum played in midfield. Liverpool did not change their formation. They placed Wijnaldum on the left side of midfield.

When Liverpool attacked, Wijnaldum would push up into the left side of the forward line.

But his attacking style was different from Mané's. Liverpool's attacking tempo began to slow, but their possession in the final third became steadier.

Klopp made this adjustment because he wanted Joe Gomez and Robertson to focus fully on defending. Coman really was dangerous.

In the 56th minute.

"Renato Sanches may not pass the ball as well as Thiago, but he's very well-rounded."

"Xavi Martínez plays it out and finds Renato. Renato is being harried by Wijnaldum!"

Wijnaldum defended well. Renato Sanches only saw Gnabry, but he still relied purely on instinct and sent the ball out to the left.

Kingsley Coman brought it down beautifully with his chest, then kept moving with a series of shifting dribbles.

Joe Gomez stayed tight to Kingsley Coman, but two seconds later, Coman still got past him.

After breaking through, Kingsley Coman prepared to deliver the ball, but Rodri somehow appeared beside him. He not only blocked Coman's first cross, he held his ground on the second attempt and completed the tackle.

Leo Lin had initially been preparing to run back into the box to mark Lewandowski, but when he saw Rodri win the ball, Henderson dragged him forward, and he sprinted toward Salah instead.

At that moment, Liverpool's attacking players were all bunched together. Wijnaldum had also run over to Salah's side, and Bayern's three center backs hurriedly narrowed in with them.

Kimmich sensed something was wrong. Although the three Liverpool players were gathered together, Bayern's center backs were standing far too close to one another.

If another Liverpool player pushed forward into the attack, Bayern's center backs would have no spare attention left to cover him.

Just as he was about to warn Alaba to watch the other Liverpool players, Joe Gomez appeared.

After Rodri won the ball, Joe Gomez had already started running into the space between Alaba and Kimmich.

Rodri immediately sent a long pass. Although Renato Sanches did everything he could to close him down, Rodri still used his excellent long passing to drop the ball right onto Joe Gomez's head.

Alaba immediately jumped to challenge Gomez in the air.

At the same time, Leo Lin started moving again, running into the space between Kimmich and Süle.

Joe Gomez still won the header and nodded it toward Leo Lin.

Süle had lost his man, and so had Kimmich.

Leo Lin watched Gomez's header fly toward Neuer.

The header was straight down the middle, but Neuer, trying to get ahead of Leo Lin's shot, had taken a few steps toward Leo Lin's side. Those few steps were exactly what opened up the center of the goal.

The Liverpool fans' eyes followed the same path as Leo Lin's. When they saw the header fly into the middle of the net, it felt as though a new Champions League champion was about to be born at the Amsterdam Arena.

Leo Lin rushed toward Joe Gomez.

Rodri rushed toward Joe Gomez as well.

Kovač was still talking to his assistant coach. He did not think there was anything wrong with his substitutions, but after Renato Sanches came on, he had only been trying to find Kingsley Coman on instinct. Instead, Bayern's attack had become more predictable. Compared with Thiago, Renato also lacked the same quality in short passing.

"This kind of goal actually comes down to Bayern's defensive understanding. Once Liverpool suddenly added another player in the attacking line, no one from Bayern followed him. As a result, Alaba lost Joe Gomez, then lost Leo Lin as well."

"Süle had been watching Firmino the whole time. After Mané went off, Bayern's right-sided defense seemed to relax, and then Leo Lin suddenly drifted over to the right and scored!"

"How have Liverpool scored again?"

"What was that defending? How can we lose so many players all at once?"

"Klopp has still beaten Kovač tactically!"

Going only one goal behind did not kill Bayern's hopes in the final, but after that, Liverpool kept defending according to the attacking routes of Coman and Renato Sanches. Whenever they won the ball, they used the same approach to attack Bayern's back line.

After the substitutions, Bayern's defense had become even more unstable.

In the 66th minute.

Leo Lin once again crowded into the same area as Wijnaldum. This time, Joe Gomez did not sprint forward. Firmino offered himself to Rodri, while Henderson unexpectedly charged up beside Süle.

Kimmich immediately rushed toward Henderson, but this time, Rodri's long pass was aimed at Leo Lin.

Leo Lin did not flick it on with his head. After bringing it down with his chest, he chose to shoot himself, but Hummels still blocked Leo Lin's effort with the side of his back.

But Wijnaldum brought the ball under control, then curled it toward goal.

The bend a professional player can put on a shot is visible to the naked eye.

If Neuer's save had been a few moments quicker, he might have had a chance to keep out Wijnaldum's curling effort.

But what actually happened was that Wijnaldum's curling follow-up changed the score to 3-1.

"Wijnaldum scores!"

"After Bayern Munich made their substitutions, Liverpool have quickly pulled two goals ahead!"

"Kingsley Coman, Gnabry, and Renato Sanches haven't been able to help Bayern score!"

"Instead, it's Leo Lin and Wijnaldum linking up, plus Rodri's passing, that has broken through Bayern's goal twice in a row!"

"Rodri has grown. After this Champions League final, I think his value could get close to one hundred million!"

Wijnaldum was already being mobbed by Liverpool players, and Klopp made another change. This time, Fabinho and Solanke came on.

"Henderson and Firmino are coming off. Klopp makes two more substitutions!"

Zubizarreta grabbed Fabinho.

"We're at the very, very end of the match now!"

"Fabinho, I want you to be just like Rodri!"

"Defend Renato Sanches exactly the way he has been defending!"

"Tell Rodri that if he gives us just a little more, we can win the Champions League!"

"Tell Lin that if he scores one more, we'll finish Bayern off in Amsterdam!"

...

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