Liverpool players celebrate the victory. Hair.
Reporter Yin Chengjun.
The annual League Cup final takes place in late February and early March and is the first winner of the year in English football. In the early morning of the 26th, Beijing time, after a hard-fought 120-minute battle, Liverpool defeated Chelsea 1-0 through a stunner goal to win the first championship of the season. From last season's slump to this season's recovery, Liverpool has improved under the leadership of manager Jurgen Klopp, and even hopes to win the "quadruple" this season.
This will be the perfect end to Klopp's nine-year Liverpool career.
The Blues have lost all six finals.
Liverpool and Chelsea are old rivals in English football. Far from that, the two teams have met in three seasons of cup finals in recent times. The previous two times Liverpool beat Chelsea to win the title, and this time, it is the familiar "red and blue duel", and the balance of victory is also tilted in Liverpool's favor.
Liverpool are desperate to win the title because they played so badly last season that they didn't even qualify for this season's Champions League and had to go to the Europa League. This season, Liverpool have regained their sense of previous years under Jurgen Klopp, topping the Premier League table, reaching the Carabao Cup final and meeting Chelsea once again.
Chelsea have struggled in the last two seasons and are keen to boost morale with the Carabao Cup, so they fielded their strongest squad. Liverpool have several big players injured and can only use the remnants to deal with it.
In the first half, a win-hungry Chelsea took the lead, with Palmer and Jackson, who were very active in the attack, hitting the back of the net in succession in the box, but they were all saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Kelleher. In the 32nd minute, Raheem Sterling opened the scoring first, but Jackson, who assisted the assist, was ruled offside and the goal was disallowed.
After Chelsea's three-pronged game, it was Liverpool's turn to show. In the 40th minute, Liverpool finally showed their chances, Gakpo received Robertson's pass and hit the post with a header.
In the second half, the two sides strengthened the midfield competition and gradually fell into a positional battle. There weren't many chances for either team, with Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk having a header ruled out for offside.
Liverpool were full of injuries and the line-up was stretched, and after midfielder Hrafenberg went off injured, Klopp could only use a young player to top up and 20-year-old young defender Bradley into midfield. However, in the face of such an awkward formation, Chelsea were still unable to find the back of the net, and manager Mauricio Pochettino began to figure out how to play the penalty shoot-out early.
Towards the end of extra-time, Liverpool shattered Mauricio Pochettino's dream of a penalty with a goal that Van Dijk headed home to seal the title.
Chelsea are once again missing out on the title. The "Blues" have lost all of their last six cup finals, and have won six runners-up in a row, which can be regarded as a unique scenery in English football.
Liverpool fought with wounded soldiers.
Last season, Liverpool's slump was due to a steady stream of injuries from the start of the season that lasted for a whole season, leaving Jurgen Klopp unavailable and losing some key games. In the first half of the season, several of Liverpool's big players have been in good shape, and the team's record has been very consistent, dominating the Premier League for a long time.
However, after entering February, the tough Liverpool could not stand up again, and 12 players in the team were injured one after another, and almost rested a starting line-up.
Among them, the strikers suffered heavy losses, with Mohamed Salah suffering an injury in the game against Brentford and his return undecided; Jota, who has a "glass physique", has a major injury every season, and this time is no exception. He injured the cruciate ligament in his left knee against Brentford and is not expected to return until April. Nunez, a center forward who was heavily recruited, felt unwell ten days ago, and Klopp did not dare to let him play with an injury, so he was also watching the League Cup final.
In addition, the main goalkeeper Alisson has also missed the last four games due to a leg muscle injury. In this final against Chelsea, substitute goalkeeper Kelleher kept the goal in front of the door and did an excellent job.
In this case, Klopp could only make a series of youngsters in this game, but these players did not drop the chain and did not disappoint their manager.
Is there any hope for the "Quadruple Crown"?
In the absence of a major general, Liverpool finally ushered in the first title of the season. If most of the injured are fitted around April, then Liverpool have a real chance of winning the 'quadruple'.
They have already won the Carabao Cup, and in the Premier League, Liverpool also lead the table by one point. In the Europa League, they have reached the round of 16 and will face a weaker Sparta Prague for a place in the quarter-finals.
In addition, they are also in the last 16 of the FA Cup, where they will face Southampton. This is Jurgen Klopp's final season at Liverpool, will he be able to seize every opportunity to win all the trophies and end his Premier League managerial career? Let's wait and see.
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