Chapter 119 The Fate of Marseille

Élie Baup, the head coach of Marseille, knew exactly how difficult it would be to play Liverpool away, and he also understood Martin O'Neill's intentions.

Because he and Martin O'Neill had the same idea.

The two teams currently had the same points, with Liverpool having the advantage in goal difference. So Liverpool was temporarily ranked first in the group.

If Marseille wanted to qualify as the top seed in the group, they would have to find a way in the direct confrontation with Liverpool.

Playing away, Baup planned to have the team play defensively, first solidifying the defense, and then looking for opportunities to launch sneak attacks. If there weren't any good opportunities, they would forgo the sneak attacks altogether and concentrate on defense. As long as they could force a draw with Liverpool away, Marseille could find a way to defeat them at home.

Baup really had that kind of confidence. It was hard to say whether he was too confident in his players or too underestimated Liverpool's strength...

In fact, he had prepared relatively well, but he underestimated Chen Hero's determination to compete for the Champions League Golden Boot. Before this round of the league, Real Madrid's game had already been played, and Cristiano Ronaldo scored another goal in the game, now with five goals in three Champions League games, ranking first in the scorer list.

How could Chen Hero sit idly by and watch the gap between himself and him widen?

In this game, Martin O'Neill needed a victory, and Chen Hero needed goals. When Marseille embarked on their journey, their fate seemed to have been sealed...

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"Hero! Hero! Hero!"

The fans in the stands cheered wildly.

Chen Hero, whose name they were chanting, was just below the Kop stand, waving his fist vigorously, keeping time with the fans' shouts.

"Hero—this is his fourth goal in the Champions League this season! He scored for Liverpool with a header!"

"The game has only started for twenty minutes, and Liverpool has taken the lead! They have undoubtedly scored first again!"

"Marseille defended with all their might after the start of the game, but they still couldn't hold off Liverpool's relentless offensive!"

Harry Levy, who took over the commentary of Liverpool games from old Hartson, shouted: "Welcome to Anfield, Marseille guys!"

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Baup, on the sidelines, saw the Liverpool players celebrating their goal, and he waved his hand in frustration, looking very helpless.

This goal conceded… Hero's aerial advantage was too obvious.

Now that his team had conceded a goal, what should he do?

Baup made the decision to continue to defend stubbornly and launch counterattacks.

Since they had already conceded a goal, the primary task now was not to equalize as soon as possible, but to try to avoid conceding more goals in the subsequent games.

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After Chen Hero scored, he didn't stop. His desire for goals would never be satisfied.

Besides, that Portuguese guy was still pressing down on him.

He had to pull him down from himself!

Faced with such a Chen Hero, Marseille still wanted to hold a draw? What wishful thinking!

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Baup's plan was to avoid conceding any more goals before the end of the first half. Before the forty-third minute, it seemed that his team had a good chance of completing this goal.

Then in the forty-third minute, Chen Hero personally shattered his dream.

Liverpool launched an attack on the wing, and the ball was passed to the center. This time it wasn't a high ball, so the Marseille defenders were a little more relaxed about defending against Chen Hero—Chen Hero's header was so famous that some people would sometimes forget that Chen Hero was now a very versatile center forward.

You should know that Chen Hero once forced himself to use his right foot for a whole season because of the safety issues of headers, so his ability to score with his feet has long been developed.

Chen Hero took a step forward and intercepted the ball in front of the Marseille center back, turned around and shot. Chen Hero's shot was fast and accurate. Marseille's goalkeeper Mandanda reacted too late, only had time to make a waving motion upwards, and the ball had already rushed into the goal!

"Beautiful! Beautiful! Hero! He scored twice!"

"Hero's movements are too agile! Completely inconsistent with his height of one meter ninety-six!"

"Before the end of the first half, Hero's two goals helped Liverpool take the lead! Now Marseille is facing a crisis, what adjustments will they make during the half-time break?"

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What the hell adjustments!

Baup cursed in his heart, but he himself didn't know whether to scold Chen Hero or his own players.

The first half was about to end, but they let the opponent seize an opportunity to extend the lead...

All the calculations were in vain!

Once this goal was conceded, what continued to defend stubbornly, what opportunistic counterattack... all became a bubble.

Marseille had no choice and no confidence to continue defending stubbornly. All Marseille players knew that they were now very dangerous. If they were still asked to continue defending and strictly implement tactical requirements during the half-time break, even if Baup had high prestige, it probably wouldn't work.

What about attacking... Baup frowned.

He knew what the consequences of attacking would be, but did he have a choice? Could he stop the players from attacking? If he didn't, wouldn't the players attack on their own? The players were people with thoughts and brains, not just cold data. They had their own ideas.

Instead of letting them attack haphazardly according to their own ideas, it would be better for him to organize it himself. Maybe it would have some effect...

Having made up his mind, Baup didn't watch the rest of the first half. He left the field early and returned to the locker room.

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In the second half, the Marseille team really opened up and launched an attack against Liverpool.

Baup was gambling, betting that his team had the ability to score goals in the game, and even equalize the score. Betting that his team could score before Liverpool scored.

Not everyone in this world is good at gambling. Some people lose every time they gamble. Baup was certainly not a person who lost every time he gambled, but his luck today was not very good... In other words, he lost the bet!

Opening up and launching an attack against Liverpool was what Liverpool liked most. Because there would be more gaps behind the opponent's defense line, and for Liverpool with Götze, this situation was what Liverpool liked most!

In the sixty-eighth minute, Götze assisted Gareth Bale with a through ball, scoring Liverpool's third goal of the game.

Five minutes later, Gareth Bale assisted Götze. The German genius dribbled past the clumsy Marseille center back in the penalty area, and then gently flicked the ball. The ball went straight to the far corner and fell into the goal...

Marseille only scored a consolation goal in the eighty-eighth minute, taking advantage of Liverpool's unpreparedness.

At that time, Martin O'Neill had already replaced three players in one go, including Chen Hero. Judging from O'Neill's substitutions, if there were no rules restricting him, he would definitely want to replace all eleven players.

Because there was still a big game this weekend—the first England national derby of the new season, Liverpool vs. Manchester United at home.

O'Neill was no longer considering the Champions League at this time, he was considering the domestic league.

Even so, Marseille had no chance.

The result was that Baup, who was determined to secure a draw and strive for victory away from home, almost lost even his underwear in the end.

The 1:4 defeat was Marseille's first defeat in the Champions League this season, and also the most惨重的.

After losing this game, Marseille's plan goals had to be adjusted from competing with Liverpool for the top spot in the group to competing with Fiorentina for the second place in the group.

Fiorentina narrowly defeated Olympiacos 4:3 away from home, taking three points and closing in on Marseille.

Liverpool, who had won all three games, had basically locked in a spot in the group stage. Although there were still three games to go before the end of the group stage, no one would think that they couldn't even qualify for the group stage.

What made Baup even more unhappy was that in the post-match press conference, O'Neill talked the most about the game against Manchester United. As for the game against Marseille, he only mentioned it briefly. It was as if he didn't take Marseille to heart at all...

Not only Martin O'Neill, but other English reporters were not very interested in Marseille. When it was his turn to take the stage, only a few French reporters asked some questions, and the English reporters were too lazy to raise their hands—the relationship between the British and the French was not good in the first place, and besides, their minds were really not here.

So in Baup's eyes, that was losing the game and being insulted.

But as a loser, what else could he say at this time?

He could only hold this breath and wait for the opportunity to vent it when he returned to his home stadium.

On November 4th, Marseille will face Liverpool at home, this is Baup's revenge battle.

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It's no wonder Martin O'Neill didn't take Marseille to heart. They seemed to be the most powerful opponent in this group. Before, their points were the same as Liverpool's, they had scored five goals and didn't concede a single goal. How could they not have the quality and symbol of a strong enemy?

But as soon as the war started, Marseille quickly surrendered... It only took less than a chapter to solve them. How could Martin O'Neill take such an opponent to heart?

Compared with them, Manchester United is the real strong enemy.

Although they defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford last season and snatched the league championship. This game was considered a watershed by many people, but Martin O'Neill didn't dare to think so.

Because the outcome of a game can't explain too much. A very famous Argentine football commentator once said a famous saying: "There is no logic in a game."

Manchester United lost that game, it doesn't mean they will lose again in the new season.

So every encounter with Manchester United must not be taken lightly.

The so-called centipede dies but never falls down, a powerful team like Manchester United is a centipede, the failure of a game will not kill them.

With such an opponent as Manchester United, Marseille is naturally not worth mentioning.

The whole of England had already entered the atmosphere of the "national derby" in advance, and no one had time to pay attention to Marseille.